Madonna disappoints Malawi villagers
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Madonna disappoints Malawi villagers
1 hour ago
MCHINJI, Malawi (AFP) — US pop icon Madonna disappointed hundreds of villagers who turned up at an orphanage in Malawi on Tuesday hoping to see the star and her adopted son David Banda.
The pair spent several hours at the Home of Hope orphanage -- where she first found David, now three years old -- which was guarded by police.
"We have been disappointed with Madonna. We didn't see her nor did we see David. We came here to see both of them," Adam Chipula, 60, told AFP.
Chiphula was one of 400 villagers who had gathered outside the orphanage in Mchinji, 120 kilometres (75 miles) from the capital Lilongwe, hoping to see the singer and her son.
Some of the villagers, most of them barefoot, climbed trees and the brick wall fence of the sprawling orphanage, but were blocked by several plainclothes and uniformed police, who also chased a contigent of journalists away.
Scuffles and fist fights broke out between security officials and some of the journalists, mostly from international media who have been shadowing Madonna since she arrived in Malawi on Sunday.
Madonna, 50, jetted into the impoverished African country to try to adopt three-year-old Mercy James from an orphanage after the star fell for the baby when she was barely a few months old during a visit in 2006.
"We have been instructed not to let any intruder into the orphanage," said one police officer.
Madonna's chief security officer, who was not identified, said: "This is a private function."
Madonna spent two hours visiting the centre, officially opening a state-of-the art hostel to accommodate 500 orphans, which was built through her charity Raising Malawi
The pop icon used a different route to exit from the orphanage without being photographed.
David was returning to his orphanage for the second time since he was adopted in 2006.
"She came to pay back to the orphanage which gave her David," Chipililo Mushenge, one of the disappointed villagers, said.
"Why can't she allow us to see David. We only hear that he is growing into a healthy baby. It's quite unfair for Madonna to treat us like that when David is our own baby," she said.
Mushenge said most of the villagers had come by foot very early hoping to see the pair.
"We just wanted to thank her for keeping our David safe," she added.
The orphanage, with over 100 workers, has a nursery as well as primary and secondary schools.
1 hour ago
MCHINJI, Malawi (AFP) — US pop icon Madonna disappointed hundreds of villagers who turned up at an orphanage in Malawi on Tuesday hoping to see the star and her adopted son David Banda.
The pair spent several hours at the Home of Hope orphanage -- where she first found David, now three years old -- which was guarded by police.
"We have been disappointed with Madonna. We didn't see her nor did we see David. We came here to see both of them," Adam Chipula, 60, told AFP.
Chiphula was one of 400 villagers who had gathered outside the orphanage in Mchinji, 120 kilometres (75 miles) from the capital Lilongwe, hoping to see the singer and her son.
Some of the villagers, most of them barefoot, climbed trees and the brick wall fence of the sprawling orphanage, but were blocked by several plainclothes and uniformed police, who also chased a contigent of journalists away.
Scuffles and fist fights broke out between security officials and some of the journalists, mostly from international media who have been shadowing Madonna since she arrived in Malawi on Sunday.
Madonna, 50, jetted into the impoverished African country to try to adopt three-year-old Mercy James from an orphanage after the star fell for the baby when she was barely a few months old during a visit in 2006.
"We have been instructed not to let any intruder into the orphanage," said one police officer.
Madonna's chief security officer, who was not identified, said: "This is a private function."
Madonna spent two hours visiting the centre, officially opening a state-of-the art hostel to accommodate 500 orphans, which was built through her charity Raising Malawi
The pop icon used a different route to exit from the orphanage without being photographed.
David was returning to his orphanage for the second time since he was adopted in 2006.
"She came to pay back to the orphanage which gave her David," Chipililo Mushenge, one of the disappointed villagers, said.
"Why can't she allow us to see David. We only hear that he is growing into a healthy baby. It's quite unfair for Madonna to treat us like that when David is our own baby," she said.
Mushenge said most of the villagers had come by foot very early hoping to see the pair.
"We just wanted to thank her for keeping our David safe," she added.
The orphanage, with over 100 workers, has a nursery as well as primary and secondary schools.
2009 Apr 1